Month: November 2017

The weekend is here so we’ve rounded up a list of 15 sustainability movies available on Netflix that we think are worth watching. From beautiful adventure movies to visually striking series and eye-opening documentaries, we’ve got your Sunday evening sorted. Enjoy!

1. Okja

A beautiful science-fiction/ adventure movie in Korean and English about the friendship between a 10-year old girl called Mija and a giant animal called Okja that gets kidnapped by a greedy multi-national company that has dangerous plans for this animal. The movie was nominated for several awards such as Palme d’Or and Cannes Grand Prix.

2. Human Planet

A visually striking 8 episodes BBC documentary series that looks at how people that survive in extreme conditions with the wildlife and nature.

3. A plastic ocean

An eye-opening documentary from 2016 that showcases the huge amount of plastic pollution in the world’s oceans and its impact on ocean life.

4. Food Inc

“Food Inc” is an Academy Award nominated movie that examines corporate farming in the USA to understand its impact on humans and animals’ health, as well as the environment.

5. Cowspiracy: The Sustainability Secret

An eye-opening documentary from Kip Anderson about the impact of mass animal agriculture on the environment such as climate change, water use, and deforestation. The documentary has been criticised by various scientists and journalists that some of the figures stated in the movie aren’t accurate however still an interesting watch about the overall industry practices.

6. What the health

“What the health” is a plant-based diet advocacy documentary from the team behind “Cowspiracy” that talks about the health impact of meat consumption and questions the information provided to consumers by various health organizations. Although the documentary has received high criticism from a range of doctors, dietitians, and journalists that some of the data mentioned might have been distorted and cherry picked, many experts do agree that consumers should question the connection between big food businesses and governments.

7. Chasing Coral

A documentary about a team of divers, scientists and photographers who are documenting the disappearance of coral reefs. The movie won the Audience Award for US at the Sundance Film Festival in 2017.

8. Chasing Ice

“Chasing Ice” is an award winning documentary that follows the efforts of nature photographer James Balog to publicize the effects of global warming on the world’s glaciers.

9. Food Choices

Food Choices is a 2016 documentary that looks at the health impacts of food choices on our health, the environment and other species.

10. Living on One Dollar

A movie that follows four friends that set out to live on just $1 a day for two months in rural Guatemala. The movie follows them battling hunger, illness to give an eye-opening view of how over 1 billion people around the world are living.

11. Small is Beautiful: A tiny house documentary

“Small is beautiful” follows four people as they build their own tiny houses in pursuit of a mortgage free and minimalistic lifestyle.

12. Sustainable

Another movie that looks at the impact of agribusiness on the environment, the community and health, “Sustainable” follows the story of Marty Travis, a seventh generation farmer that sets out to pioneer the sustainable food movement in Chicago.

13. Minimalism

As the title suggests, “Minimalism” looks at different levels of minimalism and how life might be better with less.

14. The Mars generation

A documentary that follows a set of teenagers that train at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center with the plan of leading mankind to Mars.

15. The Ivory Game

A documentary aimed at stopping the ivory trade by looking at the poaching of elephants in Africa for the ivory trade in China and Hong Kong and the black market that surrounds this business.

Through better care of our clothing we can reduce the garments overall environmental impact, save money and make our favourite clothing pieces last longer. Here are 7 easy tips on how to make your clothing care more sustainable.

1. Wash less and in bulk

With today’s technological advancements it has never been easier to launder clothing so there’s a tendency to wash clothes after just 1 wear and in smaller, frequent washes. However this negatively impacts the environment so unless your clothes are visibly dirty or smelly, avoid washing your clothes too often to help reduce water wastage and energy consumption. Try to only wash when you can do a full load but remember not to overfill the machine as it can wear it.

2. Consider washing in cold water or low temperature when possible

During machine washes most of the electricity goes towards heating the water. Cold water washing consumes the least amount of energy compared with high heat washes and a good option if your clothes aren’t visibly soiled and need more of a freshen up. Even lowering the temperature from 60 degrees Celsius to 30 degrees’ Celsius can help save nearly half of the energy for the wash.

3. Invest in eco friendly washing machine and laundry products

Most washing machines have a setting for Economy wash however there are also more technological advanced ones that have been specifically designed to be more sustainable especially if your existing machine regularly consumes a high amount of electricity. Eco-friendly detergent is better for the environment while still making sure your clothes come out clean and fresh.

4. Air dry rather than using a tumble dryer

Avoid using tumble dryers when possible to lower the electricity usage and instead focus on air drying.

5. Find an eco-friendly dry cleaning service

Most dry cleaning methods can have harmful effects on the environment. If you have to dry clean try to find a place that is environmentally conscious.

6. Learn more on how to take better care of different fabrics to avoid damage

Usually labels should provide instructions on the best way to take care of that piece of clothing to avoid damage, however you can also find some extra information online on how to best wash different types of clothing, fabrics and prints to ensure your clothes last longer.

7. Fix and donate

To avoid clothing ending up on landfills, if a clothing piece is damaged see if it can be fixed or repurposed for something else. Donate items that you won’t be re-wearing.